My Word for the New Year::Balance

Hello!  I'm back amongst the living.  I finally recovered from my "flu" bug and finished all my projects that had a deadline so I can take a deep breath before 2013 officially begins.  It seems a lot of artists that I follow have chosen one word to represent what they feel they want to focus on this year.  If I had to choose one word it would be "Balance".  Life is such a balancing act most of the time.  I want to make sure I stay balanced spiritually, physically and creatively.  So that will be my goal.  If any of you want to share your word for 2013 I would love to hear it.
I will have news that I feel is very exciting to share with you tomorrow.  In the meantime I'll share a couple of cards that I keep meaning to send in to be considered for publication.  Obviously I'm still in love with those little girl images from Hidden Vintage Studios.

My thanks to all of you who read my blog, I really do appreciate it and love to read your comments.  The reason I got so involved in blogging was to keep myself focused and on task.  I think it has helped me more than I expected since I have met so many other artists along the way.  They in turn have taught me new techniques and ways to push myself by meeting different challenges all through the year.   I can honestly say I have gained more than I have given.  My thanks to all of you all around the world!  Be safe.  We all get to start fresh tomorrow.  Isn't that the beauty of a new year?  Talk to you soon!

Tangerine Challenge

There is a color challenge posted in The Stampers' Sampler called Tangerine Dream.  Once a year a color challenge goes out and the submissions are pretty amazing.  I love to participate in this one since it gets me out of my color preference, anything neutral, and makes me use colors that I usually stay far away from, anything orange.  The Absolute Deadline for this is February 15, 2013 so you have plenty of time to try your hand at this one.  I used scraps from my March Art Journal Calendar page so this card came together in about 10 minutes. 

The supplies I used are:  Clip art from DeviantScrap.com, Alterations rosette die, orange and white Bakers twine, white Pearl Pen, a cheap music stamp from Michaels dipped in Brushed Pewter Distress Stain, phrase from Northwoods Rubber Stamps, Staz-On black ink.  The card measures 5" x 7".

I hope you're all feeling fine, I feel like I've got a touch of something so I'm going back to bed.  I've got several deadlines to meet over the next 10 days so I am taking a little break from my blog until after the first of the new year.  So until then, take care.  Talk to you soon. 

Art Journal pages using acrylic paints

Back again with more art journaling madness.  I can't seem to get enough of this.  These pages were inspired by Kate Crane's DVDs and are done with acrylic paints.  I haven't written on them yet, these are just backgrounds waiting to covered up with whatever.  The images that are cut out and pasted on to the pages are by Hidden Vintage Studios/Tangled Up and Almost Alice.

We're in for some cold weather today.  It just started snowing.  Have a great weekend, talk to you soon! 

Newtown, Connecticut

I, like so many others, was devastated to hear of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday.   I cannot imagine the pain felt by so many who lost their beautiful children and precious loved ones.  My thoughts and prayers are with all of the people affected by this terrible event.

March 2013 Calendar Pages/#Sizzix

I'll be teaching my March and April 2013 Art Journal Calendar pages at Ink About It in Westford, MA on January 5th.  When I was creating the March calendar page I kept thinking of an old quilt pattern called "Grandmother's Flower Garden" which uses hexagon shapes.  This idea morphed into just flowers with 6 petals and a center to equal one week.  The background is done with gesso, Dylusions London Blue spray ink, Dyan Reaveley's diamond stencil, Pearlescent Embossing Paste by Dreamweaver spread through a chevron stencil with a credit card.  The letters, rosette and hearts were cut using Sizzix dies.

Nice bright colors!  I'm hoping for a nice, bright winter, with just a little bit of snow.  We'll see how it all works out.  Have a great weekend, talk to you soon~Renee

Making cards using my Masterboard

I decided to make some more cards using a photocopy of my Masterboard.  I used Dyan Reaveley's stamps and colored in the images with my Memento Markers by Tsukineko.  I love the vibrant colors and the way they match the inks I used on the original Masterboard.

Have you tried making a Masterboard yet?  It saves you so much time and is a really fun project.  I hope you're having nice weather where you are today.  It started out sunny here but now it is dreary again.  Take care, talk to you soon!

New Masterboard using Tsukineko's FIREWORKS

I can't stop making Masterboards lately.  As I continue to try different products and colors I am amazed at how different each one can be.  For this masterboard I used watercolor paper that had first been coated with a very thin layer of gesso.  After allowing the gesso to thoroughly dry I sprayed Tsukineko's Goosebumps, think liquid plastic, through a circle stencil.  It takes a little while for the goosebumps to dry and then I started spraying the Fireworks glimmer mist, also by Tsukineko, over it.  I just bought a package of three containing the colors Tangelo, Lady Bug, and Dandelion so I kept layering one color after the other, blotting with paper towels along the way, until I was satisfied.  A quick dry with a heat gun and then I began stamping.  The stamped images are just little stars by Rubber Stampede and a diamond design by Paper Inspirations.  I used Memento's Pistachio ink to stamp these and then I heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.  Now it was time to bring out the lids.  I have a collection of old lids that I have recycled into stamps.  I dipped the lids in red, turquoise and white acrylic paints, one color at a time, and stamped them randomly all over the page.  Everyone seems to have old gift cards/credit cards/hotel room keys, etc. that can also be used to dip in acrylic paint and make straight lines on the paper.  This also adds some depth and interest to your pages.  I used black and white acrylic paint for the lines.  Now the paper can be photocopied and used over and over.  This is what the entire sheet looked like.

You can add drops of water and blot them for a ghosting effect when it is completed, if you like.  This next photo shows a card made with the paper.

An all occasion card using Dina Wakley stamps.

Masterboards are so fun to make!  I hope this will encourage you to make your own, just the color you want it to be.  If you haven't tried Fireworks sprays you are in for a treat, great colors with a little bit of shimmer.  Have a great weekend.  Talk to you soon.

Masterboard using Memento Inks

I love creating Masterboards.  When I make a masterboard I can use whatever inks, stamps, etc. that I want just randomly on a large piece of paper.  After it is finished to my satisfaction I can then either photocopy it on heavy cardstock or I can just cut up the masterboard and use it as background paper for cards or other projects.

As I have mentioned before I have fallen in love with the colors of Memento inks.  For this masterboard I used Summer Sky, Pistachio, Espresso Truffle, London Fog, Pear Tart and Morocco.  I have a large piece of watercolor paper coated in gesso to begin.  After the gesso is completely dry, I apply the inks direct to paper and blend them with a foam blending tool.  Every once in a while if the color looks too heavy I just lightly mist it with water and continue to lift the paper, let the ink run a little and then blend it again.  After I have the colors just where I like them I stamped some of Dyan Reaveley's Basic Background stamps, using the same colors of ink.  I also like to make some lines on the paper using black,white and other colors of acrylic paints.  I use the same colors to stamp circles randomly on the paper.  This is the end result.

Sometimes I cut the watercolor masterboard paper to fit the front of a blank 5" by 7" card.  After cutting the paper I can stamp images on it or phrases.  In this case the girl image is by Dina Wakley, it's called Lonely Girl.  The phrase is by Dyan Reavely.  The ink used is Memento's Peanut Brittle.  I placed a tiny scrap of foil on her eyes.

On this second card I used the photocopy made on heavy cardstock of the masterboard.  The stamped images are all Dyan Reaveley's but the inks are Memento's pens.  The pens are really lovely colors so they blend well with what I've already done using their ink pads.

I really love the palette of colors offered by Memento.  Using them this way gives your homemade paper or Masterboard an effect very similar to watercolors.  It is nice to be able to create your very own one of a kind background paper.
Hope you're having a great day.   Talk to you soon~Renee

Tangerine Masterboard

I enjoy making cards so occasionally I create a Masterboard that can be photocopied and cut apart to reuse several times.  That way you don't have to re-create the wheel over and over.  Just make multiple copies of your paper on good quality card stock and you have your very own paper with whatever theme you like.  There is a Tangerine challenge coming up with The Stampers' Sampler so I can use this Masterboard to make cards or whatever for that.

I call this page "Crazy Cat Lady in Training".   I am a cat lover so I can totally relate to this girl with her sweet kitty!  She is from DeviantScrap.com in the Alice collection.  My husband is allergic to all animals so this is about as close as a cat is getting to our house.  Oh, well....have a great week.  We had absolutely beautiful weather here in New England today.  50 degrees F in December!  It doesn't get any better than that.  I hope your week is off to a good start.   Talk to you soon.